Category: Daily Report

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, at Salt Lake (LAA) 3
Round Rock: 10 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 28-30, 7.5 GB

SP Michael Plassmeyer: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 75 P / 48 S, 3.41 ERA
RP Peyton Gray: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 2.51 ERA
RP Robbie Ahlstrom : 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.45 ERA
3B Cody Freeman: 2-5, 2B, HR (5), .307/.352/.466
RF Kellen Strahm: 2-3, 2 BB, SB (21), .259/.373/.385

IF Justin Foscue and OF Trevor Hauver were activated. Only Hauver played (1-4, walk). OF Marcus Smith transferred to Frisco. Outrighted catcher Tucker Barnhart elected free agency.

AA: Frisco 2, Springfield (STL) 7
Frisco: 4 hits, 7 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 31-20, 0.5 G up

SP Florencio Serrano: 3 IP, 7 H (1 HR), 5 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 55 P / 38 S, 5.40 ERA
RP Bryan Magdaleno: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 8.27 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 4.61 ERA
CF Cam Cauley: 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, .239/.312/.389

Florencio Serrano replaced Daniel Missaki as the Monday starter but fared no better. Frisco converted two of their seven walks into runs but was otherwise pretty quiet.

Hi-A: Hub City 1, @ Greensboro (PIT) 4
Hub City: 3 hits, 8 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 27-25, 1.5 GB

SP Leandro Lopez: 5.1 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 3 BB, 5 SO, 80 P / 48 S, 2.34 ERA
LF Keith Jones II: 2-2, 2 2B, 2 BB, SB (10), .245/.395/.377

Leandro Lopez cruised through five on just 60 pitches, but his 80th and final pitch left the yard and plated three. Unfortunately, Hub City would have the league’s worst offense if not for hapless Wilmington, so comebacks are a challenge, and the Burgers mustered (mustard? sorry, sorry) only three walks and no hits after Greensboro took the lead. Also unfortunate is the presence of league-leading Bowling Green. Terms like “tradition” and “powerhouse” seem out of place describing low-level clubs, but Tampa Bay’s high-A entry hasn’t posted a losing record since 2016, and a win last night pushed their lead to 1.5 games.

Lo-A: Hickory 10, Columbia (KAN) 1
Hickory: 11 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 27-24, 1.5 GB

SP Ismael Agreda: 5 IP, 4 H (1 HR), 1 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 78 P / 49 S, 2.10 ERA
RP Michael Trausch: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.70 ERA
SS Chandler Pollard: 3-5, HR (1), .277/.362/.349
LF Maxton Martin: 3-4, 3 2B, BB, .272/.329/.450
3B Rafe Perich: 2-5, 2B, .233/.352/.358
DH Marcos Torres: 1-3, 2B, BB, SB (7), .237/.348/.368

Hickory’s offense rates below average as well but has been in better form lately and more capable of rolling off a double-digit run total. The Crawdads stand alone in second place; a month ago, they were seven games back.

21-year-old Chandler Pollard sat on an inside fastball and tallied his first homer of the year. Given his hitting style (not many homers), he could definitely stand to draw more walks (currently 6% of PA), but he gets plunked enough to boost his free-pass rate to league-average. In a repeat session at the level, he’s striking out much less and turning some of that contact into extra hits. At the least, he’s shown enough for a promotion to high-A at some point.

Elsewhere
San Francisco designated catcher Sam Huff for assignment. By chance, I’d looked him up just last night and wondered how he’d survived to this point with a .208/.259/.340 line. Replacing him is former Ranger Andrew Knizner, who’d signed recently after leaving Washington’s AAA squad. The Nats signed OF Delino DeShields Jr., who’d been in Mexico without much success. Outrighted Pittsburgh utility man Nick Solak too free agency.

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Drake (vs TK Roby)
Hi-A: Curry
Lo-A: Segura

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, Reno (ARI) 7
Round Rock: 8 hits, 6 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 27-30, 7.5 GB

SP Ty Blach: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 SO, 52 P / 40 S, 2.84 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO, 4.50 ERA
CF Evan Carter: 1-4, .207/.314/.379
LF Dustin Harris: 2-5, .208/.327/.219

Evan Carter grounded out hard against lefty Jake Rice and struck out against lefty Kyle Nelson.

Emiliano Teodo was a mess, again, allowing six runs in 0.2 innings on four hits (three of them hard liners) and two walks. After the opening homestand, I wondered if Teodo might get the call if needed. Probably not, but he certainly acted ready. Since then, only two of his nine outings have followed the desired course. In those nine appearances, Teodo has pitched 11 innings, walked 16, and allowed 17 hits and 19 runs. Teodo has almost always been deeply inconsistent, and even his best stretch (May and June of 2024) had its fair share of walks and hit batters, but finding a previous period matching this one requires some deep digging and cherry-picking (and mixing of metaphors).

AA: Frisco 6, at Amarillo (ARI) 2
Frisco: 10 hits, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 31-19, 1.5 G up

SP Trey Supak: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 85 P / 52 S, 5.45 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 3-5, .263/.423/.406
1B Abi Ortiz: 1-3, BB, .250/.343/.438
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-4, 2B, .274/.295/.439

Frisco took five of six at Amarillo and allowed 4.3 runs per game in park with an average of about 5.7. The Riders batted .276/.350/.486 and scored an even six per game. Mission accomplished. That terrific week netted them exactly 0.0 games in the standings, as trailing Midland also won five of six. In the three series concluding the first half, both teams will spend two weeks on the road, and Midland will host Frisco in the second series. Midland has a 59-run differential advantage.

Sebastian Walcott walked twice.

Hi-A: Hub City 3, Winston-Salem (CHW) 1
Hub City: 5 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 27-24, 0.5 GB

SP Jose Gonzalez: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO, 79 P / 59 S, 2.50 ERA
SS Casey Cook: 1-3, BB, .178/.270/.233
1B Arturo Disla: 1-3, HR (6), BB, .263/.325/.430
RF Yeison Morrobel: 1-3, HR (2), .187/.274/.307

Jose Gonzalez missed a career-high 21 bats en route to his best outing of the season. Now 23, Gonzalez is in his fifth pro season (meaning a 40 decision in a few months, unlikely but possible) but didn’t make a strong impression until last year at low-A. Down East.

Hub City’s remaining first-half schedule is no picnic: six at Greensboro (34-16), six against Wilmington (21-30), three at division-leading Bowling Green (27-23), which has series against the two worst teams in the league prior to meeting the Spartanburgers.

Lo-A: Hickory 13, at Delmarva (BAL) 5
Hickory: 14 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 26-24, 2.5 GB

SP Anuedis Mejia: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 34 P / 19 S, 6.46 ERA
RP Josh Sanders: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0.00 ERA
SS Chandler Pollard: 1-4, BB, HBP, SB (23), .267/.355/.323
1B Pablo Guerrero: 3-6, .232/.308/.362
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 4-6, SB (15), .233/.374/.308
3B Rafe Perich: 3-4, 2B, .227/.351/.351

Hickory won with another barrage of early runs including eight in the 3rd. The Crawdads also won despite another less-than-one-inning outing from the starter, as too many plate appearances of 7-8 pitches (even the successful ones) forced out Aneudis Mejia.

Hickory has a favorable schedule for the final 15 games of the first half: six against Columbia (26-25), six at Myrtle Beach (18-31), three against Delmarva (20-31).

Dominican Summer League
It began today. Rangers Red won 23-9, aided by 17-year-old 2B Elorky Rodriguez’s 4-for-6 performance with a homer, double, walk and steal. Rodriguez was Texas’s priciest signing of the early 2025 period until the recently inked Seong-Jun Kim of South Korea. Rangers Blue defeated the Yankees Bombers 10-8.

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 9th-best full-season team for the Rangers during 2007-2024 was the 2011 low-A Hickory Crawdads.

Record: 79-58 (40-28 first, 39-30 second)
Run-differential record:80-57
Component record: 77-60

The offense was remarkably stable, with the top nine hitters accounting for 82% of the team’s plate appearances. Future Major Leaguers were SS Jurickson Profar, 2B Odubel Herrera, 3B Christian Villanueva and C Tomas Telis. Hickory had the league’s best offense (after adjusting for park); they weren’t especially powerful but led by far in average and OBP. The team’s best hitter was 1B Andrew Clark (.311/.422/.482), who would virtually disappear the next April.

Hickory had the league’s third-best run prevention. Nick Tepesch led the squad with 138.1 innings and would reach the Majors, joined by Luke Jackson, Roman Mendez, Justin Grimm and Ben Rowen. The best starter was 19-year-old Cody Buckel. Ryan Rodebaugh logged 14 saves.

On June 16, I saw Jackson’s sixth-ever full-season start in person, a 5-1 defeat of the Gary Sanchez-led Charleston RiverDogs (pics below.) The win put the Crawdads atop the division by percentage points. They’d trailed by 4.5 games just two weeks earlier but would win 13 of 15 down the stretch to claim the first-half title.

In the playoffs, Hickory was matched against Florida-affiliated Greensboro, which finished with a nearly identical record. The Crawdads would fall in two straight, 5-4 (in 15 innings) and 2-0. In the opener, Hickory took leads in the 10th, 13th and 15th, only to give them back. Some guy named Christian Yelich tied the game in the 13th with a double and ended it with a homer, scoring Marcell Ozuna both times. Hickory managed only three baserunners in the final game.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Reno (ARI) 0
Round Rock: 8 hits, 6 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 2 hits, 0 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 27-29, 7.5 GB

SP Dane Dunning: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO, 72 P / 50 S, 5.12 ERA
RP Patrick Murphy: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1.50 ERA
DH Evan Carter: 0-3, BB, .205/.316/.386
SS Cody Freeman: 2-4, BB, .304/.351/.446
1B Blaine Crim: 1-3, 2B, BB, .292/.359/.538

Evan Carter faced young Arizona lefty Yu-Min Lin three times. He fanned on a sweeper his first time up, but he then scorched another sweeper 107 off the bat directly to the right fielder and grounded hard to short. Against a righty, he later hit a 101 MPH fly tracked down near the wall by Cristian Pache and walked. All told, a pretty swell 0-for-3 night.

Dane Dunning has back-to-back scoreless outings, and, not coincidentally, his two best outings for swinging strikes, 13 last week and 14 last night. His slider cracked 80 MPH only once but he generated nine misses on 12 swings.

AA: Frisco 11, at Amarillo (ARI) 6
Frisco: 11 hits, 6 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Record: 30-19, 1.5 G up

SP Mitch Bratt: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 81 P / 54 S, 1.89 ERA
1B Abi Ortiz: 2-4, HR (8), BB, .249/.337/.439
CF Cam Cauley: 2-5, 3B, SB (16), .240/.304/.389
RF Josh Hatcher: 2-4, BB, .269/.291/.421

Frisco’s starters have allowed two or fewer runs in four straight starts in a tough environment (although Kohl Drake’s two came in just 0.2 innings). Mitch Bratt missed only five bats but got the Poodles to gawk at a season-high 20 called strikes.

Hi-A: Hub City 1, Winston-Salem (CHW) 4
Hub City: 5 hits, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 26-24, 1.5 GB

SP DJ McCarty: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 5 SO, 76 P / 46 S, 7.04 ERA
RP Wilian Bormie: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1.98 ERA
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-4, HR (9), .236/.313/.427

Early in the season, the 1st inning was Hub City’s bugbear. Lately it’s the 9th. Two walks and an error loaded the bases, and with two out, reliever Seth Clark threw a short grounder wide of first. That and a subsequent double plated four. Gleider Figuereo’s solo homer cut the margin in the bottom half.

Lo-A: Hickory 10, at Delmarva (BAL) 2
Hickory: 9 hits, 12 walks, 14 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts

SP Caden Scarborough: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 SO, 62 P / 50 S, 4.01 ERA
RP Grant Cherry: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 4.50 ERA
SS Chandler Pollard: 3-6, 2B, .268/.350/.325
RF Maxton Martin: 2-6, 2B, .265/.313/.432
DH Pablo Guerrero: 1-3, 2 BB, .222/.302/.357

Hickory led 10-0 when the game was suspended, not 10-5 as I said yesterday. The Crawdads coasted from there. Hickory scored eight on the 1st on just four hits, all by Chandler Pollard and Maxton Martin. Caden Scarborough missed a career-high 13 bats.

Lo-A: Hickory 2, at Delmarva (BAL) 3 (7)
Hickory: 4 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 25-24, 2.5 GB

SP Mason Molina: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 80 P / 47 S, 4.06 ERA
3B Rafe Perich: 1-2, BB, .213/.344/.333

Delmarva chipped away Hickory’s slender lead with singletons in the 4th, 5th and 6th. Chandler Pollard grounded into two double plays. Despite a lower grounder rate than last year, he’s up to seven for the season, three more than the entirety of 2024.

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Supak
Hi-A: Gonzalez
Lo-A: Mejia

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 15th-best season by a position player during 2007-2024 was by Mitch Moreland in 2009.

Moreland will appear in this feature more than once, so for now let’s just say he was drafted in 2007 and had a respectable 2008. Moreland began 2009 in Bakersfield, probably the worst facility in affiliated ball at the time, and certainly worst compared to the next stop on the organizational ladder. With that extra incentive, Moreland batted .341/.421/.594 with 19 doubles and eight homers in 43 games for the Blaze.

Promoted to Tulsa in late May, Moreland went 3-4 with a double in his first game and batted .326/.373/.488 with another 19 doubles and another eight homers in 73 games. Moreland spent most of his time in Bako at first but manned right much more often at Frisco. His position tended to depend on his teammates; he would outrank someone like Chad Tracy but not Joey Butler.

Moreland continued to hit well in AAA in 2010 and was in the right spot in late July, when Texas traded Justin Smoak, and Chris Davis batted .189/.267/.245 in 16 games as Smoak’s replacement. He entered the Majors essentially a finished product, rarely great but never worse than just good enough for the front office to focus its efforts elsewhere.

MORE Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024 (catching up from when I lost power)
The 14th-best position-player season was Joey Gallo’s 2013.

I’ve already covered Gallo’s 2016 (#18 on the list), and we’re not done with him after today, so I’ll ignore 2014 and after. Gallo had already made a name for himself by breaking the Arizona League record with 18 homers as an 18-year-old in 2012.  

Assigned to Hickory in 2013, Gallo was the most prolific homer-hitter on the most prolific homer-hitting team in any Rangers-affiliated league during 2007-2024. (I’ll probably be discussing that later as well.)

Despite missing an entire month and playing in only 106 of 139 games, Gallo led the team, the league, the organization and all of minor league ball with 38 full-season homers (plus two more in Arizona on rehab).  Gallo also stole 14 bases against just one failure, and his 48 walks were third on the team. When the season ended, he was still just 19 years old.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 5, Reno (ARI) 6
Round Rock: 6 hits, 3 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 26-29, 8.5 GB

SP Gerson Garabito: 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 SO, 52 P / 34 S, 8.26 ERA
RP Joe Barlow: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 6.26 ERA
CF Evan Carter: 0-3, .213/.323/.400
SS Michael Helman: 1-3, HR (1), BB, .176/.282/.324

Evan Carter popped out twice and struck out in his rehab debut. In the field, most plays were routine, but he did have to race in to nab a sinking fly in the 2nd. No issues, and Dustin Harris replaced him in the 6th.

As a Ranger, Michael Helman has started five games at short, two in center, one at second and two at DH. Justin Foscue played second base at the complex. IF Jax Biggers (out all season) and OF Trevor Hauver have been rehabbing there as well.

AA: Frisco 7, at Amarillo (ARI) 1
Frisco: 16 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 29-19, 1.5 G up

SP Ben Anderson: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 80 P / 52 S, 4.20 ERA
3B Sebastian Walcott: 3-4, 2 HR (8), 2 SB (10), .253/.343/.461
CF Cam Cauley: 3-5, .235/.302/.376
C Ian Moller: 3-5, 2B, .179/.289/.282

Sebastian Walcott homered twice for the first time in AA. In the linked story, he credits “a whole new mindset this year” for his success. I would point out that in 2024 he handled high-A capably as an 18-year-old after a very rough start, and he reached AA near the end of the season, so last year’s mindset wasn’t exactly lacking. Walcott has started at third two of the last three nights.

Hi-A: Hub City 12, Winston-Salem (CHW) 2
Hub City: 13 hits, 8 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 3 walks, 17 strikeouts
Record: 26-23, 0.5 GB

SP David Davalillo: 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 77 P / 47 S, 1.02 ERA
RP Victor Simeon: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 4.24 ERA
RP Erik Loomis: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0.73 ERA
2B Casey Cook: 2-4, BB, 2 SB (13), .173/.266/.224
1B Arturo Disla: 2-5, 2B, .268/.328/.425
3B Gleider Figuereo: 1-4, 2B, BB, .235/.314/.412
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, 2B, .257/.327/.294
RF Yeison Morrobel: 2-4, 2B, HR (1), .191/.286/.279
C Julian Brock: 2-4, BB, SB (6), .193/.271/.269

Hub City scored five in the 8th to extend an already-wide gap and erase any chance of a third-straight last-inning defeat.

David Davalillo hasn’t allowed more than a run this season. I’m happy I was able to see his one thoroughly dominant inning in the Spring Breakout game before this stretch of success.

Lo-A: suspended

Hickory leads 10-5 in the top of the 5th following an eight-run 1st. Caden Scarborough fanned seven in four scoreless innings with two hits and no walks. Based on his usage, he likely wasn’t coming out for the 5th regardless. 

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Bratt
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: Molina

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 14th-best starting pitching performance by a Ranger belongs to Nick Martinez in 2013.

Texas drafted Martinez in 2011’s 18th round out of Fordham. Back then, acclimation to the pro game meant getting accustomed to bus trips to Yakima and life in a hotel, plus he was shortstop first and pitcher second for the Rams, so he would throw 58.2 innings amongst the rookie squad and short-season Spokane that year. 2012 didn’t impress on paper — a 4.83 ERA with decent peripherals from a 22-year-old in low-A — but he showed enough to indicate he might have a future.

Assigned to high-A Myrtle Beach in 2013, Martinez was steady if not scintillating, posting a 2.87 ERA in 119.1 innings in a favorable environment with a 21% strikeout rate (slightly above average for the time). In five end-of-season starts with Frisco, Martinez enjoyed what involved some BABIP luck but was nevertheless mightily impressive: 32 IP, 1.13 ERA, seven walks, 23 strikeouts.

In 2014, he was assigned to Frisco but called up for his MLB debut before appearing for the Riders. He would start 24 games and rank third in innings in what was a lost season for the Rangers. 2015 was his best season, but on the whole, he was usually just a touch above replacement, and once he’d expended his options, he didn’t have a role on the club. He spent four years in Japan and returned to better success as a swing man for the Padres, and he’s currently in Cincinnati’s rotation.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 2, Reno (ARI) 1
Round Rock: 5 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 6 hits, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 26-28, 7.5 GB

SP Kumar Rocker: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 53 P / 35 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Marc Church: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 9.00 ERA
RP Luis Curvelo: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 1.80 ERA
2B Cody Freeman: 3-5, 2B, .295/.342/.443

Kumar Rocker retired 12 batters in order on just 47 pitches. Extended past the scheduled four innings because of the pitch count, Rocker walked Trey Mancini after an 0-2 start and was done. Yesterday, Statcast classified nearly all of his pitches as sinker or cutters. Today, the fastballs were re-classed as a mix of four-seamers and sinkers (which seems right) and a mix of cutters and sliders. In the latter case, I’d say many so-called cutters were just hard sliders, as his velocity was up about two ticks. (I can’t say for sure, but my impression is Statcast treats a pitcher’s first appearance in AAA as if he’s a newcomer, even if he has experience in MLB.)

In terms of effectiveness, last night was a continuation of his his previous outing with Frisco in that he simply overwhelmed the competition. He could pitch for Texas next time out. In terms of pitch mix, he wasn’t dealing like a typical starting pitcher. He threw three late changes to no effect, but the rest was essentially fastball-slider, so in that respect he arguably needs more work, plus perhaps an opportunity to extend to 70+ pitches.

AA: Frisco 3, at Amarillo (ARI) 1
Frisco: 7 hits, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 28-19, 0.5 G up

SP Josh Stephan: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 84 P / 58 S, 5.25 ERA
DH Sebastian Walcott: 2-5, 2B, .241/.332/.420

Not every game in Amarillo is a slugfest, and Josh Stephan produced his first walk-free and second scoreless outing of the season. He’s nearly decreased his ERA to a manageable level after allowing eight runs in his first start. OF Luis Mieses hit a solo homer and reached two other times.

Hi-A: Hub City 3, Winston-Salem (CHW) 4 (12)
Hub City: 7 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 9 walks, 17 strikeouts
Record: 25-23, 1 GB

SP Kolton Curtis: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 74 P / 43 S, 4.71 ERA
RP Josh Trentadue: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 6 SO, 1.16 ERA
DH Arturo Disla: 2-5, .264/.326/.420

Hub City didn’t lose another late lead but did lose late, surrendering two 12th-inning runs despite throwing out two Dash runners at the plate. Credit CF Dylan Dreiling and RF Keith Jones II for those. The Burgers drove in their gift-runner but couldn’t muster anything beyond that.

Lo-A: Hickory 6, at Delmarva (BAL) 4 (11)
Hickory: 7 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 6 walks, 14 strikeouts

SP Dalton Pence: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 50 P / 35 S, 2.28 ERA
RP Enrique Segura: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 SO, 7.94 ERA
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 1-3, HR (2), 2 BB, SB (14), .217/.357/.297

Yeremi Cabrera homered to lead off the 11th, and reliever Luke Savage didn’t allow Delmarva’s runner to budge. Pence has been effective in a swing role, with a .147/.221/.274 opposing line and 39% strikeout rate. As I’ve mentioned, a fair number of 2024 picks have already reached high-A, and as he’s last year’s 11th-rounder from UNC, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him join Hub City before too long.

Lo-A: Hickory 7, at Delmarva (BAL) 5 (7)
Hickory: 5 hits, 8 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Record: 24-23, 2 GB

SP J’Brielle Easley: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SO, 31 P / 18 S, 4.20 ERA
RP Kai Wynyard: 4.1 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 1 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 2.83 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 HBP, 3 SO, 3.33 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 2-3, BB, .246/.402/.315
3B Rafe Perich: 1-3, BB, .214/.337/.338

I’ll confess that Hickory doesn’t feel like a team two games out of first, but there they stand with 18 to play in the first half despite the division’s worst run differential (-24). The Crawdads overcame the first outright poor start of the season from J’Brielle Easley, Aiding that cause were two of the better innings in 2025 from Brock Porter. Assisting even more was Chase Allsup, not a Ranger but Delmarva’s starter, who walked five straight to open the 2nd. Four of those plus a later runner would score.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Garabito
AA: Anderson
Hi-A: Davalillo
Lo-A: Scarborough

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The 15th-best starting pitching performance by a Texas minor leaguer during 2007-2024 was by Michael Kirkman in 2010.

Drafted in 2005’s fifth round out of high school, Kirkman had a solid debut for the rookies but then spent three seasons trying to graduate from low-A. Injuries limited his innings, and until 2008 he was extremely walk-prone. In 2009, he was quickly bumped to AA after handling high-A. Texas policy was to hustle anyone with promise out of Bakersfield as soon as possible, and some (like Martin Perez) skipped the Cal League entirely. Frisco was a serious challenge foe the 22-year-old, but he outlasted some early rough outings and finished strong.

Stationed at AAA Oklahoma City to begin 2010, Kirkman blossomed into a legitimate starting prospect, more walk-prone than you’d like but able to limit extra-base damage and strike out 23% of opponents, well above average for the time.

That type of performance translated well to relief, and Kirkman was called up for his MLB debut in that role in late August. The Rangers were comfortably but not decisively leading the AL West at the time. He pitched as he had in OKC, walking ten in 16.1 innings but fanning 16 and surrendering only one extra-base hit. He also made three postseason appearances. In the span of two years, Kirkman had progressed from semi-successful low-A pitcher to Major Leaguer.

Kirkman would spend parts of 2011-2014 with the Rangers before his release in early 2015. He then appeared briefly with Milwaukee and San Diego.

Today’s report is brought to you by the Honda EU2200i portable generator. No, I didn’t nab a sponsor. I mean literally. It’s running the fridge and wifi after the storm that ripped through central Austin yesterday. My place actually missed the worst of the hail by about one-half mile, but we received 1.5 inches of rain in about 15 minutes. Not even the residue of Harvey put so much water in my yard in such a short period.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, Reno (ARI) 5
Round Rock: 10 hits, 0 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 8 hits, 6 walks, 5 strikeouts
Record: 25-28, 8.5 GB

SP Robert Dugger: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 1 SO, 63 P / 31 S, 18.26 ERA
RP Michael Plassmeyer: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 3.25 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO, 7.04 ERA
3B Cody Freeman: 2-4, HR (4), .287/.335/.433

The worst weather also spared Round Rock but did delay the proceedings. Emiliano Teodo didn’t miss any bats but didn’t get himself into excessive trouble with his control. Robert Dugger is still trying to regain his form.

AA: Frisco 2, at Amarillo (ARI) 11
Frisco: 3 hits, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 7 walks, 8 strikeouts
Record: 27-19, 0.5 G up

SP Kohl Drake: 0.2 IP, 2 H (1 HR), 2 R, 2 BB, 2 SO, 35 P / 19 S, 2.97 ERA
RP Florencio Serrano: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 3.29 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 1-3, HR (4), BB, .258/.429/.417
2B Keyber Rodriguez: 1-4, HR (2), .279/.327/.381

Six elongated plate appearances were enough to end Kohl Drake’s night very early. Florencio Serrano let one of three inherited runners score but certainly did his job in keeping the game close and sparing more bullpen usage. Amarillo opened things up in the middle innings. Aaron Zavala is one homer shy of his 2023 and 2024 total.

Hi-A: Hub City 7, Winston-Salem (CHW) 6
Hub City: 9 hits, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 3 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 25-22, 0.5 GB

SP Aidan Curry: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 77 P / 49 S, 6.31 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2.45 ERA
2B Casey Cook: 1-3, 2 BB, SB (11), .164/.256/.217
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-5, 3B, SB (8), .224/.337/.378
3B Gleider Figuereo: 2-3, HR (8), HBP, .240/.315/.418
C Julian Brock: 2-4, SB (5), .183/.258/.261

Hub City always led after the 3rd but the game was still a back-and-forth affair with the Dash scoring in each of the last four innings. Casey Cook’s bases-loaded walk in the 8th would prove critical. Gleider Figuereo is second in the organization with eight homers.

Lo-A: rain

Two today.

Today’s Starters
AAA: “TBD” 
AA: Stephan
Hi-A: Curtis
Lo-A: Pence / TBD

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 6, Reno (ARI) 5
Round Rock: 13 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 25-27, 7.5 GB

SP Ty Blach: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 SO, 90 P / 58 S, 3.54 ERA
RP Patrick Murphy: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 2.45 ERA
3B Cody Freeman: 2-5, .281/.332/.413
LF Kellen Strahm: 4-5, 2 SB (17), .266/.369/.405
C Cooper Johnson: 1-4, HR (2), .184/.310/.306

Strahm’s oppo single brought home Dustin Harris. Now 28, drafted as a senior out of San Jose State in 2019, Strahm is in his walk season. He’s a strong runner, adept outfielder and has handled AAA pitching well, with an ability to see and hit spinny stuff.

AA: Frisco 7, at Amarillo (ARI) 5
Frisco: 12 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 27-18, 1.5 G up

SP Daniel Missaki: 3 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 4 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 4 SO, 71 P / 39 S, 6.85 ERA
RP Ryan Lobus: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 4.97 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 5.63 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, 2B, BB, .256/.427/.393
SS Sebastian Walcott: 1-4, 2B, HBP, .242/.337/.424
DH Abi Ortiz: 2-4, HR (7), .250/.341/.428
CF Cam Cauley: 2-5, 2B, .228/.299/.373

Amarillo is the Texas League’s El Paso / ABQ / Reno / Salt Lake. Now is the week for Frisco’s hitters to pad their stats, and they collected seven extra-base hits. For pitchers, the idea is to escape intact, and only Missaki allowed a run. A league-average line right now for a Frisco hitter is about .247/.328/.389, so Walcott has a 112 OPS+.

Hi-A: Hub City 2, Winston-Salem (CHW) 4
Hub City: 7 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 5 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 24-22, 0.5 GB

SP Leandro Lopez: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO, 84 P / 55 S, 1.95 ERA
1B Arturo Disla: 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, .267/.328/.430

Another Monday night, another start with admirable control from Leandro Lopez. Normally reliable Wilian Bormie was tagged for three hits and three walks in the 9th, permitting four runs for the Dash.

Lo-A: Hickory 2, at Delmarva (BAL) 4
Hickory: 5 hits, 7 walks, 13 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 6 walks, 11 strikeouts
Record: 22-23, 3.5 GB

SP Ismael Agreda: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 4 SO, 66 P / 33 S, 2.15 ERA
CF Marcos Torres: 1-1, 3 BB, SB (6), .237/.352/.390

Ismael Agreda has good stuff but control is sometimes absent.

Down at the complex, 2024 fifth-round IF Devin Fitz-Gerald is the early standout, hitting .340/.462/.660 with four doubles, four homers, and more walks (10) than strikeouts (5). I’d caution against reading too much into that, as I’ve seen a good many destroy the rookie league only to struggle mightily in low-A (especially now, lacking the half-step of short-season ball). 18-year-old Yolfran Castillo has a .324/.385/.441 line with eight steals against one caught. Fellow 18-year-old OF Paulino Santana, homerless in his 2024 run through the Dominican Summer League, has two dingers, two triples and a .258/.361/.419 slash.

Today’s Starters
AAA: TBD
AA: Drake
Hi-A: Curry
Lo-A: rain

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The seventh-best minor league relief season by a Ranger during 2007-2024 belongs to Cody Eppley in 2010.

Drafted in 2008’s 43rd round out of Virginia Commonwealth, where he’d started with decent success, Eppley immediately converted to relief as a pro and shredded opposing hitters with his sidearm delivery. He fanned 66 against just six walks in 67.2 innings for low-A Hickory in 2009. Assigned to high-A Bakersfield in 2010, Eppley produced 18 scoreless innings with one walk and 24 strikeouts. Promoted to Frisco, he was no longer flawless but still nearly unhittable, and after a an eight-inning scoreless stretch with five runners and 11 strikeouts, he jumped to AAA Oklahoma City. He began with two perfect innings and four strikeouts at Round Rock, which I missed because I was in New Orleans appraising the Dixie Brewery. Eppley leaned more toward the ordinary in AAA but established himself as a potential call-up. He got that call in April 2011.

Unfortunately, Eppley’s control became a problem in 2011, and by April 2012 he’d been waived and claimed by the Yankees. There, he enjoyed his finest season, pitching 46 effective innings and appearing in all four games of the ALCS (a 4-0 Detroit sweep). Eppley made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster in 2013 despite a poor spring. He’d somehow transformed instantly from “competent MLB middle reliever” to “unable to retire AAA hitters with any regularity.” He was quickly optioned, outrighted a month later and released a month after that. After a spell with Minnesota’s AAA squad, he joined Lancaster of the Atlantic League, and he would spend the next six seasons in indy ball.

Texas recalled 1B Blaine Crim. The Rangers were a man short, so there’s no corresponding removal. Crim is not in today’s lineup.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 4, at Charlotte (CHW) 7
Round Rock: 6 hits, 9 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 9 hits, 5 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 24-27, 8.5 GB

SP Dane Dunning: 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO, 68 P / 46 S, 6.06 ERA
RP Emiliano Teodo: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 SO, 8.10 ERA
LF Kellen Strahm: 1-2, 3 BB, .248/.357/.392
C Cooper Johnson: 2-4, BB, .178/.315/.244

Emiliano Teodo missed on 13 of his first 16 pitches. He’s walked or hit 22% of opposing batters in AAA. There might come a day where relievers are so unhittable they can shrug off that many free passes, but we’re not there yet.

OF Marcus Smith was 0-4 yesterday, but we’d may as well take a closer look because he’s been so much fun. Until promoted to Round Rock in early May, Smith had a line of .178/.316/.267 with a 40% K rate in 235 full-season games. That’s to say, he was promoted solely to help out a roster crunch, a task he also performed last year. With the Express, he’s hitting .319/.459/.702 with nine extra-base hits in 14 games. While his contact rate remains far below average, he’s been elite at ignoring out-of-zone pitches. And the contact! Smith has a 61% hard-hit rate and median exit velocity of 98.9 MPH, nearly eight above the league median. He’s put five fastballs in play and is hitting .800 with a 2.000 slugging percentage. Goodness knows what this means. Maybe nothing. But, for the moment, Smith has uncanny plate discipline combined with a sell-out swing on in-zone pitches.

Texas signed IF Richie Martin. I’ll confess to not knowing he was still in professional ball, but he spent 2024 and a month of 2025 with indy Gastonia, just down the road from Hickory and near Charlotte. Now 30, Martin last played in the Majors in 2022 for Baltimore.

AA: Frisco 2, Midland (ATH) 14
Frisco: 4 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 5 walks, 13 strikeouts
Record: 26-18, 1.5 G up

SP Trey Supak: 3 IP, 7 H (2 HR), 11 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 6 SO, 73 P / 44 S, 5.87 ERA
RP Larson Kindreich: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 3.00 ERA

Frisco wore their 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates unis this week, taking four of six from formerly division-leading Midland despite being outscored 33-18.

Hi-A: Hub City 4, Rome (ATL) 5
Hub City: 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
Record: 24-21, tied for first

SP Jose Gonzalez: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 SO, 70 P / 42 S, 3.00 ERA
DH Arturo Disla: 2-4, HR (5), .259/.315/.420
3B Gleider Figuereo: 3-4, HR (7), .229/.299/.393

Joey Danielson was the unlikely victim of Rome’s comeback, allowing three runs on five hits in 0.2 innings. He hadn’t surrendered more than one run in any previous outing.

Lo-A: Hickory 8, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 7
Hickory: 9 hits, 6 walks, 8 strikeouts
Opponent: 11 hits, 6 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 22-22, 2.5 GB

SP Aneudis Mejia: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 48 P / 31 S, 6.65 ERA
RP Luke Savage: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 0.66 ERA
RP Brock Porter: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, 3.60 ERA
RP Grant Cherry: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO, 5.14 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 3-5, 2B, .237/.406/.314
3B Rafe Perich: 1-3, 2B, 2 HBP, .212/.337/.343
RF Marcos Torres: 2-4, HR (1), .224/.313/.379

Hickory trailed 7-3 entering the bottom of the 6th. A Marcos Torres two-run homer, some Pelican wildness and a Torres RBI groundout put the Crawdads back ahead for good. Brock Porter pitched a 1-2-3 7th when the score was knotted at seven.

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The second-best full-season team in a Texas-affiliated league during 2007-2004, and the best outside a season shortened by covid, was the 2011 AA San Antonio Missions.

Record: 94-46
Run-differential record: 95-45
Component record: 91-49

The Pads affiliate was 49-16 in games decided by at least four runs. San Antonio never lost more than three straight, and only on three occasions. Meanwhile, they produced nine streaks of at least five wins.

San Antonio led the league with 5.7 runs per game (18% above the league average) despite a pitcher-friendly stadium. On the flip side, they allowed only 3.8 per game (22% better than average). They were an amazing 55-15 at home with a margin of 2.6 runs per game. By my accounting, San Antonio had the tenth-best offense and third-best pitching/defense of 794 teams in my study.

In the playoffs, San Antonio dispatched of Frisco (79-61) in four games. One of my fondest memories was seeing Game 1 in person in San Antonio, where Joe Wieland outdueled Robbie Ross Jr. en route to a 3-0 victory. Nick Vincent pitched the 8th and Miles Mikolas notched the save. Frisco had only three baserunners. The Missions would sweep Arkansas in the finals, including a 20-inning 5-4 victory in Game 2 (no bonus runners back then).

A great many Missions reached the Majors, but impact was limited offensively. IF Jedd Gyorko had the best career (9.3 WAR in 846 games). OF Daniel Robertson eventually debuted with the Rangers in 2014. While no longer a prospect, perpetually injured Kyle Banks spent 78 games with the Missions while recovering from elbow surgery. On the mound, Nick Vincent forged a ten-year relief career. Highly regarded Casey Kelly didn’t pan out in the US, instead finding success in Korea. Anthony Bass debuted that year and pitched through 2023. Brad Brach pitched in MLB into the 2020s, and Miles Mikolas is currently in the St. Louis rotation after three years in Japan.

Texas is calling up 22-year-old OF Alejandro Osuna. He’s starting in left and batting sixth today. Shifting to center for the first time in 2025 is Wyatt Langford.

Despite a very strong AA half-season (.306/.379/.523) last summer, a memorable Arizona Fall League and 2025 Spring Training, Osuna returned to Frisco to concentrate on CF, where he’d never played to the exclusion of the corners. Perhaps Evan Carter’s option to AAA impacted that decision. He was promoted to AAA only 12 days ago. That timeline would foretell a late-season call-up, but as with Carter a few weeks ago, the parent club’s circumstances have dictated a different path.

Osuna was hitting .261/.485/.435 with eight walks against seven strikeouts in 33 trips to the plate. He had seen only 150 pitches and put 16 balls in play in AA, so we can’t draw too much from his Round Rock stats alone. Where he’s impressed the most is selection, as evidenced by the amazing walk rate. He’s seen an elevated rate of out-of-zone pitches, isn’t offering at them much and has an 80% contact rate when he does swing compared to the league’s 54%. Expecting an 80% rate in the Majors is beyond the pale, but some combination of solid patience and contact on out-of-zone pitches would be a boon. Overall, his swinging strike rate in AAA was 5% (league 12%) and his miss rate on swings was 12% (league 26%). Osuna also had a 55% ball rate on first pitches compared to the league’s 42%.

Regarding balls in play, he’s hit a few hard enough to boost his 90th-percentile exit velocity to 106.1 MPH compared to the league’s 104.1, but on the whole his exits have lagged slightly compared to the league and his usual output. Two of his four doubles were fairly soft, and he hasn’t hit a a homer-quality ball yet. Again, we’re dealing with only 16 balls in play, so I’m not concerned about that. Osuna’s Statcast data in the AFL and during spring was terrific; the raw numbers are skewed by the environmental setting, but he stood out relative to his age and peers.

Progress made against lefty pitchers during 2023-2024 has disappeared so far this season. He’s hitting .240/.406/.240, meaning no extra-base hits, and most of that extra OBP has come from HBPs rather than walks.

Osuna stole 34 bases in 2022 but with a slightly elevated caught rate. In other years, he’s peaked at 17 with a success rate in the mid 70s, and if he’s able to play regularly, I’d say that lower total would be the upper limit he’d likely achieve in a full season. In the field, Osuna has decent if not great range and an adequate if not particularly strong arm. He made several memorable plays in March. I can’t say he’ll carve out a role with the Rangers immediately, but at his peak, he could be a regular. A 4th role is a likelier possibility. Osuna is well-rounded without an especially flashy single tool. If anything, it’s contact, and how much of that contact leaves the bat at a desirable speed and angle will decree his future.

Concurrently, Texas designated OF Kevin Pillar for assignment. I’d honestly thought Pillar was a clever addition given Carter’s situation, but his inability to hit lefties sealed his fate.

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 8, at Charlotte (CHW) 6
Round Rock: 12 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 4 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 24-26, 8.5 GB

SP Gerson Garabito: 4 IP, 5 H (2 HR), 3 R, 1 BB, 4 SO, 72 P / 46 S, 8.17 ERA
RP Codi Heuer: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO, 3.48 ERA
CF Alejandro Osuna: 1-4, 2B, BB, SB (2), .259/.474/.444
RF Marcus Smith: 3-5, 2 2B, HR (4), SB (4), .349/.482/.767
SS Cody Freeman: 2-4, 2B, .283/.328/.421
DH Michael Helman: 2-4, 2B, .143/.217/.190

Osuna did not receive any hugs during the game. He played its entirety while Blaine Crim and Dustin Harris sat.

AA: Frisco 4, Midland (ATH) 3
Frisco: 8 hits, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 10 hits, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
Record: 26-17, 2.5 G up

SP Mitch Bratt: 5 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 74 P / 52 S, 1.94 ERA
RP Skylar Hales: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 6.00 ERA
SS Sebastian Walcott: 3-4, 2B, HR (6), .247/.341/.430
CF Cam Cauley: 2-3, HR (4), 2 SB (14), .227/.302/.373

Walcott is part of a five-way tie for second in the organization with six homers. Crim leads with 10. He’s also one of ten Rangers with at least 20 walks, 21 to be precise. And this is a truly convoluted stat, but he and Justin Foscue are the only Rangers with at least six homers and 20 walks.

All the frontrunners have pitched this week, so here’s your organization K leaders:
David Davalillo, 55
Mitch Bratt, 47
Kohl Drake, 47
Caden Scarborough, 42

Hi-A: Hub City 2, Rome (ATL) 1 (12)
Hub City: 9 hits, 8 walks, 11 strikeouts
Opponent: 7 hits, 4 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 24-20, 1 G up

SP DJ McCarty: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 72 P / 44 S, 8.42 ERA
RP Dylan MacLean: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO, 5.14 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 0-2, 4 BB, .224/.343/.374
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 2-5, .264/.328/.296

The teams played 11 scoreless innings with 24 stranded runners. Quincy Scott, who’d pinch-run for Arturo Disla earlier, singled in the tying and winning runs with one out.

Lo-A: Hickory 4, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 3
Hickory: 7 hits, 7 walks, 6 strikeouts
Opponent: 3 hits, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts
Record: 21-22, 3 GB

SP Mason Molina: 5.2 IP, 3 H (1 HR), 3 R, 3 BB, 6 SO, 76 P / 49 S, 4.09 ERA
RP Dalton Pence: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO, 0.00 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 1-2, 2 BB, .221/.400/.292
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 2-4, BB, SB (12), .232/.360/.296

Dalton Pence threw three scoreless innings as the Crawdads recovered from a 3-1 deficit. Like Hub City, Hickory walked off victorious on a Yeremi Cabrera single to score Maxton Martin, who’d led off with a single and advanced on a walk.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Dunning
AA: Supak
Hi-A: Gonzalez
Lo-A: Mejia

Box Scores

AAA: Round Rock 22, at Charlotte (CHW) 13
Round Rock: 21 hits, 13 walks, 9 strikeouts
Opponent: 13 hits, 3 walks, 15 strikeouts
Record: 23-26, 8.5 GB

SP Cory Abbott: 3.1 IP, 6 H (1 HR), 6 R, 2 BB, 6 SO, 79 P / 46 S, 10.03 ERA
RP Peyton Gray: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2.61 ERA
CF Dustin Harris: 3-4, 3 BB, .211/.333/.211
1B Blaine Crim: 3-5, HR (10), BB, HBP, .301/.369/.558
SS Cody Freeman: 3-6, 2B, BB, .277/.326/.413
RF Kellen Strahm: 2-7, HR (5), .247/.349/.397

Round Rock defeated Charlotte 22-13 in a wild Mecklenburg County Men’s D-II (Competitive) Softball League tilt on Friday. The Express led 11-2 after three, but the Knights stormed back to a 13-13 tie before allowed nine unanswered. Round Rock will face DB’s Tavern tomorrow and HINH Insurance Group Sunday.

Texas activated Patrick Murphy after an inning at the complex; he allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings with two strikeouts. Murphy, who spent 2024 in Japan, had been under consideration for a rotation spot but hit the IL late in March. Peyton Gray missed seven bats, mostly with a changeup.

Dustin Harris is still seeking his first extra-base hit but lined three singles and drew three walks. Cody Freeman made his seventh start at short.

Texas traded IF Jonathan Ornelas to Atlanta for cash. I wasn’t expecting him to slide through waivers.

AA: Frisco 3, Midland (ATH) 0
Frisco: 6 hits, 0 walks, 7 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 4 walks, 7 strikeouts
Record: 25-17, 1.5 G up

SP Kumar Rocker: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO, 34 P / 23 S, 0.00 ERA
RP Ben Anderson: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 SO, 4.54 ERA
LF Aaron Zavala: 2-4, .252/.428/.393
CF Josh Hatcher: 1-4, HR (6), .277/.297/.453

Kumar Rocker looked like he did last summer, overwhelming AA competition in a three-inning rehab. Rocker fanned three on a 98 sinker, clock violation and slider. One hit was true, the other a result of his hesitance to cover first on a grounder to 1B Abi Ortiz. Rocker’s next outing might occur in Round Rock next week, as Frisco will be in Amarillo.

Hi-A: Hub City 4, Rome (ATL) 1
Hub City: 8 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts
Opponent: 4 hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts
Record: 23-20, tied for first

SP David Davalillo: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 SO, 80 P / 56 S, 0.92 ERA
RP Eric Loomis: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0.96 ERA
RP Joey Danielson: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1.33 ERA
CF Dylan Dreiling: 2-4, HR (5), .228/.331/.379
DH Anthony Gutierrez: 2-4, 2B, .258/.326/.292

David Davalillo matched a career-high ten strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed more than one run in any of eight starts. Dylan Dreiling has been relatively quiet in May but has two homers and a double in the Rome series so far.

Lo-A: Hickory 7, Myrtle Beach (CHC) 8 (11)
Hickory: 9 hits, 8 walks, 10 strikeouts
Opponent: 12 hits, 6 walks, 18 strikeouts
Record: 20-22, 3.5 GB

SP Caden Scarborough: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 SO, 71 P / 48 S, 4.55 ERA
2B Antonis Macias: 2-5, BB, .218/.393/.291
CF Yeremi Cabrera: 2-5, BB, SB (11), .223/.352/.289

Caden Scarborough fanned a career-high eight. His 42 on the season (in 29.2 IP) leads the team and ranks fourth in the league.

Today’s Starters
AAA: Garabito
AA: Bratt
Hi-A: McCarty
Lo-A: Molina

Rangers Minor League History, 2007-2024
The third-best full-season team in a Rangers-affiliated league during 2007-2024 was the 2021 high-A Bowling Green Hot Rods.

Record: 82-36
Run-differential record: 75-43
Component record: 79-39

No AL organization was better equipped to take advantage of the first “post-covid” season than the Tampa Bay Rays, so much so that I can’t discuss them fully until Monday. The Rays won 100 games and had probably the best top-to-bottom modern-era minor league performance ever.

In 2021, due to various factors, the league didn’t employ a split-season format, but Bowling Green would have won both halves handily, posting a 39-21 record by the midway point and 43-15 thereafter. I can cherry-pick some mildly soft stretches, but Bowling Green never really slumped. The Hot Road were a modest 8-8 in one-run games and 74-28 (.725) in others. They won ten of 12 against a Hickory squad I’ll discuss down the line.  

The offense scored 6.1 runs per game, 19% better than the park-adjusted league average with a 123 wRC+, and the pitching and defense combined to allow 12% fewer runs than average and an opposing wRC+ of 86. Three Rods (Jordan Osar, Grant Witherpoon, Evan Edwards) hit 22-23 homers.

Future success for this group has been limited. A good number have reached the Majors but mostly for cups of coffee, limited utility use or trials that haven’t produced regular roles. Faring best has been righty Taj Bradley, a back-of-rotation starter since 2023. 2B/OF Brett Wisely has played 147 games for the Giants over the past three years, and utility infielder Curtis Mead has remained with the Rays. Great minor league teams don’t necessarily generate great or even average Major Leaguers.